Fractured (The Deep in Your Veins Series Book 5) (9 page)

Sam bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know. I’m hoping that if Reuben boosts my gift, it will be enough for me to expand my shield that far outwards. I’d have to practice a lot.”

“You’re a hybrid with a shitload of power,” said Reuben. His gift allowed him to strengthen or weaken the gifts of others. “Boosting that power should do it.”

“But could you control all that power?” Max asked Sam.

“I’ll learn, because there’s no other acceptable result.”

Harvey raised his hand, like a kid in a classroom. “Um, I hate to be a kill-joy, but...well, I’m guessing they’ll be flying pretty fast. Could you cover them with the shield fast enough to keep them all contained?”

“Probably not.” Sam looked at me. “That’s where you come in. You can form a protective wall. You use that as a shield and often stretch it around you. But what if we enlarged that wall? What if we made it so tall and wide that anything that flew at it crashed?”

It could be possible, but... “I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t,” said Jared.

“I can form walls of energy,” began Sam, “but the energy I feed from is a crazy mixture of kinetic energy, solar energy, and my own preternatural energy—that makes it vibrant and visible. The dragons would see it.”

But my shield didn’t glimmer because it was generated by my own individual energy, not a combination of varying energies. That meant the unsuspecting dragons would fly right into it.

“If they’re flying fast, they’ll crash hard,” Jared pointed out. “Even if they don’t fall to the ground, they’ll be unbalanced and confused long enough for Sam to extend her shield over us all.”

“We can try it now.” Sam gestured for me to move forward.

Reluctantly leaving Imani’s side, I advanced a few steps.

Nodding in satisfaction, Sam said, “Bring up your shield.”

It was easy enough to do, since it was something I’d done a thousand times. Raising my hands, I let the preternatural energy that filled me flow out of my palms and form a shield that I could feel but not see.

“Instead of pulling it around you, stretch it outwards.”

As I extended my arms, I pushed out more preternatural energy to widen the shield.

“Now try making it higher.”

I raised my arms and made the shield increase in height.

Sam smiled. “That’s really good. Reuben, do your thing.”

With a brief touch to my shoulder, Reuben’s ability caused mine to grow in strength.

“Right, this time I want you to extend the shield so far that it forms a wall between you and everyone else.” Sam urged Jared to move with her to stand with the group, leaving me alone. “Think about pushing it outwards.”

I didn’t move my arms at all, just kept them above my head as I let more and more energy slowly trickle out of my palms until it stretched the shield, making it higher and wider. I felt it bump something—I was hoping it had collided with the walls and the roof.

“Now we need to test just how high it is.” Sam pivoted on her heel. “Denny, jump.”

The animal mimic could jump as fast and high as a copepod. He swallowed. “What if it worked and Butch’s shield stretched that high?”

“It’ll hurt,” Sam said simply. “Maybe not as much as your attitude hurt Imani and Butch, but it’ll be close.”

Oh, she was totally ruthless.

She waved an impatient hand at Denny. “Well, go on.”

Looking like he’d rather do anything other than that, Denny bent his knees and leapt—it was a seriously impressive move. And it made him crash hard into the shield. He landed with a grunt.

Imani looked down at him, her expression aloof. “Hmm, it worked.”

“My shield will need to be a lot higher and wider than that to stop a flying drove of dragons,” I pointed out.

“It will,” Sam agreed. “We’ll have to do some training in the rainforest where you’ll have more space. It’s not going to be something that happens instantly. It’ll take work, just like my attempts to expand a dome-like shield will take a lot of practice.”

Max spoke, “If it doesn’t work?”

Sam’s face hardened with resolve. “It has to work.”

“Quick question,” Ava interjected. “If you’re expending a lot of your energy into keeping the shield in place, does that mean you can’t use your gift in other ways?”

Sam sighed. “It does. But if I concentrate hard enough, I can form energy balls while I’m inside my shield. It’s hard and it takes a lot of concentration, but it can be done. The trouble is, low level energy balls won’t do much against a drove of dragons.”

“Our number one goal is to bring the dragons to the ground,” said Jared. “Then Sam can afford to drop the shield and direct her energy elsewhere. But you’ve been trained to fight without us. You’ve been trained not to rely on us as back-up or as leaders. There’ll be a hell of a lot of vampires inside that dome—pretty much the entire legion. The dragons will see that fast enough, and they’ll try to flee. We need to keep them contained, which is why Sam’s shield is vital. I’ll cover her while she keeps it in place. The rest of you will surround us.”

“You won’t be able to pair up in the same way that you usually do,” Sam told us. “Some of you have gifts that will make the dragons drop to the ground. The rest of you will be relied on to kill all those that fall. Salem, David, Max, Denny, Harvey, and Cassie will tackle those in the air. Everyone else here will need to concentrate on the fallen. That won’t be an easy task, considering the sods can kill you just by breathing in your general direction. You all need to be at your sharpest, fastest, and canniest.”

“Which is why your training sessions will focus on making sure that you will be,” added Jared. “So let’s begin.”

No one’s attitude toward me or Imani softened but, to the credit of both squads, they were totally professional throughout the session. But the moment it was over, the guys went back to scowling at me. Also, the girls went back to ignoring Imani—except for Ava, who shot her a small smile. I had the feeling that she wasn’t upset with Imani, but she was worried that Imani had put herself in a situation where I could hurt her.

Just as Imani and I were about to exit the arena, Sam called us over. She waited until the rest of the squads had left before she spoke. “You two all right?”

Imani shrugged. “Been better. Also been worse.”

“Let’s have a little chat. No need to go on the defence,” she quickly assured me when I stiffened. “I’m not about to pass judgement or give you crap.”

I raised a brow. “Even though it’s caused tension in the ranks?”

It was Jared who responded. “I don’t think their reaction would have been so bad if they weren’t worrying so much about the dragon shifter situation. There’s also our blogger, who’s still posting articles and remaining out of reach. Everyone’s feeling helpless.”

Sam nodded. “Hearing about you two was just the cherry on the icing of the messed up cake.”

“Still no luck finding the blogger?” Imani asked her.

Sam released a frustrated sigh. “No. His gift is still protecting him well. Right now, I’m more worried about your vision and whether the dragons you saw were mercenaries. If not, we’ve done something to piss off a dragon drove enough that they want The Hollow’s vampires destroyed.”

“If Marco doesn’t come through for us,” said Jared, “we might not find the answer to that question in time to prevent the attack. If that happens, all we can do is prepare for war.”

Later that night, as Imani and I lay on the sofa watching a movie, her phone beeped. I paused the movie as she grabbed her cell from the table and read the message. Disappointment flashed across her face.

I tensed. “What’s wrong?”

Sprawled over my chest, she said, “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just Fletcher, sharing a dirty joke.”

She’d hoped it would be Paige, I realised. “She’ll come round.” Imani’s smile wasn’t fooling me. She was hurting, and it pissed me off. Paige hadn’t answered any of Imani’s calls or replied to any of her texts.

It hadn’t occurred to me that the girls would be so harsh on Imani. I’d known they wouldn’t approve of the relationship, and so I’d expected them to attempt to talk Imani into ending it, but… “I would never have thought they would freeze you out like this.”

“They’ve jumped to the conclusion that you and I have been an item for a while and I kept it from them.”

I threaded my fingers through her hair. “Even if that were true, it wouldn’t excuse what they’re doing. They’re making this about them, and it’s not.”

“You don’t get it because guys don’t really confide in each other much. But women are different. We talk and share secrets and give advice. They—most especially Paige—trusted me with their shit and so they’re upset that I haven’t done the same.”

It was more than that. “They’re making a statement that they don’t like us being together.”

“That too.” She sighed. “They worry about me, that’s all.”

It didn’t mean it was cool for them to take that worry out on her. “I’m sorry you’re hurting, baby.” I kissed her softly. “Want to finish watching the movie or are you as bored by it as I am?”

“It is a little dull.” Propping her chin on my chest, she said, “Tell me about your nest. I know you don’t like questions, but you said you’d be open with me.”

And I’d meant it. Besides, a change of subject might be good for her. “My nest was pretty small.”

“Was?”

“There aren’t many left. We all lived in one apartment building. I was a sentinel for my Sire. His mate was tough like Sam, only she was sane.”

Imani snorted a laugh.

“All three of us went to a Binding event for a week. My Sire’s first-born, Tad, was left in charge. While we were gone, he got into some kind of argument with another vampire in a club. They duelled. Tad lost, but his opponent didn’t kill him; he wanted Tad to live with the shame of losing in front of the entire club.”

“Harsh on the ego.”

“Yes. Tad’s weakness was his ego.” Slipping my hand inside her shirt, I smoothed it up and down her back. “Tad couldn’t let it go. He went back to the club, and my nest all went along. Only this time, they went after the guy’s mate. By killing her, Tad killed him. The guy’s nest retaliated and wiped out everyone in our building.”

She bit her lower lip. “I know this is an insensitive thing to say, but Tad should have known he’d never get away with that. He should have been smart.”

“You’re right, but he wasn’t. We came back to a burned-down building.” My Sire had been devastated. “They deserved it. There was no arguing with that.” If anyone went after Imani to get to me, I’d make sure she was avenged somehow—even if I wasn’t strong enough to do the avenging myself. Depending on how old and powerful the vampire was, it usually took a few nights for them to die after their mate was killed.

“I have another question. How did you become a vampire?”

“It’s a common story. I was dying on a battlefield, and someone came along and gave me a choice to live as a vampire or die as a human. To be honest, I thought he was full of shit.” Vampires looking to create a nest often went to battlefields, where they were most likely to find willing humans. It was amazing what choices people would make when they thought they faced death.

“You were in the army?”

“Yes.” And I’d enjoyed it. The discipline, the neatness, the action—all of it had spoken to me on some level.

“How old were you when you were Turned?”

“Guess.”

Tilting her head, she studied every line and curve of my face. “Thirty?”

“Close. Thirty-five.”

“Tell me about your human life.”

My mouth curved. “Very curious tonight, aren’t you?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “You never really told me anything about yourself.”

“But if I answer all your questions at one time, you might lose interest,” I said with a smile.

She slapped my chest. “No, I won’t. Tell me.”

“What exactly do you want to know?”

“Where were you born?”

“Miami, Florida.”

“Human and vampire years together, how old are you?”

I hesitated to answer, wondering if it would bother her. “Seventy-seven.”

She winced, but it was fake and her smile was teasing. “You’re way too old for me.”

“Since you were Turned when you were twenty-five and you’ve only been a vampire for sixteen years now, you could be right.”

Her mouth fell open. “How do you know that?”

“I told you the other night, I know plenty about you.”

“Hmm. It would seem you weren’t kidding. I think it’s only fair, then, that I know more about you. Any siblings?” At my hesitation to answer, she smiled. “It’s not a complicated question.”

I gently tapped her lip. “It is when you don’t know much about your biological family. I was found on the doorstep of a church when I was a baby. But I didn’t have a bad life,” I quickly added when her face scrunched up in outrage. “My adoptive parents were good people.”

Her expression softened a little. “How do you feel about being adopted?”